Category: Bonds
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Puerto Rico judge directs quick action for PREPA
Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Oversight Board to take quick action to advance a new deal for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, after the governor killed the existing deal Tuesday. In her order on Tuesday evening, Swain rejected the requests of the Ad Hoc Group of PREPA Bondholders and yet…
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Where infrastructure stands in D.C.
Transcription:Chip Barnett: (00:03)Hello, and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Chip Barnett coming to you live from the Bond Buyer National Outlook conference. I’m here today with Emily Brock from GFOA. And we’re gonna be talking about a lot of different things. Emily Brock: (00:20)It’s such a pleasure to be here. Thank you so…
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Chargers fans hope St. Louis blueprint delivers win in NFL lawsuit
Disgruntled fans have filed a pair of lawsuits against the National Football League seeking damages for moving the San Diego Chargers to Los Angeles. The most recent complaint, filed in San Diego Superior Court in mid-February, contains allegations similar to those in a separate lawsuit filed in January. Robert Kirkbright, a five-year season ticket holder…
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Big Apple budget battle begins as $100 billion plan faces scrutiny
Budget season has kicked off in New York City as the first public comments on the nearly $100 billion spending plan were heard this week. The city is in good financial shape, analysts said, thanks in part to federal aid. The City Council on Wednesday began the first of a series of public hearings that…
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Idaho voters asked to approve $288M of school bonds, tax levies
Idaho school districts will ask voters to approve $288.4 million of bonds and tax levies during Tuesday’s election to help districts deal with enrollment growth. The state has experienced rapid population growth over the past several years that has transformed its metropolitan areas from small towns into fast-paced cities. The state’s population has grown by…
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Purple Line, Capital Beltway P3 projects win TIFIA loans
A pair of high-profile public-private partnership projects will advance after winning key federal loans this week. Maryland’s Purple Line light rail project received a $1.7 billion Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan and the Capital Beltway Express LLC got a $1.05 billion loan. Both loans will be used in part to refinance outstanding TIFIA…
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Appeals court sets hearing on Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment stay
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit set the hearing for a stay on the Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment for Wednesday after several teachers’ associations filed the request. On Friday the Appeals Court gave until 5 p.m. on Sunday for the Puerto Rico Oversight Board to respond to the teachers’ request for…
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Swings in UST push ratios closer to 100%
Municipals ended the week mixed, while the swings in U.S. Treasuries continued and equities sold off as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine escalates. Triple-A yield curves saw one to four basis point cuts while UST yields fell up to 12 basis points on the 10-year, with ratios inching closer to 100% as a result. Municipal to…
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White House tells GOP to ‘show up’ for vote on Fed nominees
The White House is rejecting Republican demands to split up its nominees to the Federal Reserve, with President Biden’s spokeswoman telling GOP lawmakers to show up and vote no on Sarah Bloom Raskin rather than further stalling consideration. “All five of our nominees, including Sarah Bloom Raskin, are well qualified for these positions and we’re…
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Republicans resist full-court press by Democrats to OK Fed nominees
WASHINGTON — Democratic senators continued their campaign to advance the Biden administration’s Federal Reserve nominees out of the Senate Banking Committee, while Republicans argued the central bank is operating just fine without them. Amid testimony Thursday morning from Jerome Powell, chair pro tempore of the Federal Reserve, Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee assailed their…
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Muni yields rise, outflows clock in at $2.8B
Another day of losses for municipals on Thursday as U.S. Treasuries fluctuated throughout the session, equities were back in the red while another round of outflows were reported from municipal bond mutual funds. Triple-A yield curves saw three to seven basis point cuts, with the larger losses out long, while UST reversed earlier losses to…
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Munis ignore UST selloff on risk-on trade after Powell testimony
Municipals saw small cuts to triple-A yield curves, outperforming large losses in U.S. Treasuries, while equities rebounded from two days of large losses after Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Congress a 25-basis point hike is likely this month. Triple-A yields rose one to three basis points across yield curves while UST saw yields rise 17…
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Oppenheimer, seeing rising bond impairments, launches a restructuring group
Oppenheimer & Co. launched a municipal restructuring group Wednesday in response to a rise in high-yield municipal bond defaults as more transactions show impairments. The 18-member group will be headed by Eric Scroggins, co-head of debt advisory and restructuring, and Bill Reisner, head of public finance investment banking. Depending on the deal, the group can…
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State and local officials defend ARPA dollars at House oversight hearing
State and local officials defended their use of stimulus funds against Republican claims that the money has done more to stimulate inflation than the economy during a House oversight hearing on Tuesday. “Roughly one year into the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan injected a burst of resources into the national economy at a critical time,”…
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Munis improve following UST; NYC waters price
Municipals improved on Tuesday as the U.S. Treasury flight-to-safety bid continued and equities sold off on the escalating turmoil in the Ukraine. Municipal yields fell three to six basis points across triple-A yield curves while five- and 10-year USTs saw yields fall 14 and 11 basis points, respectively. Municipal to UST ratios rose as a…
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Munis vastly underperform UST rally
Municipals were flat to firmer in spots, underperforming the U.S. Treasury flight-to-safety rally while stocks ended mixed after much larger losses throughout the day in dramatic swings on continued war in Ukraine. Triple-A benchmarks were little changed to bumped by a basis point or two while UST rallied 10 to 15 basis points with the…
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Russian invasion of Ukraine magnifies risk of cyber attacks on U.S.
If Russian hackers target the U.S. as retribution for economic sanctions prompted by its invasion of Ukraine, it could mean more harmful and longer-term cyberattacks than the public sector has experienced previously. “We remain concerned about the potential for cyberattacks on U.S. public finance related targets such as utilities, infrastructure and state and local governments,”…
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Market sectors and segments pointed volume down in the Northeast
Municipal bond issuers in the Northeast sold $115 billion of debt in 2,261 deals during 2021, an 11.7% volume decline from 2020, according to Refinitiv data. The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York was the top issuer in both the region and in the nation last year. In 2021, DASNY issued $7.86 billion…
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Fitch revises Pittsburgh’s outlook to stable from negative
Fitch Ratings on Friday revised Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s outlook to stable from negative and affirmed its AA-minus rating ahead of an upcoming general obligation bond deal. Fitch said the revision reflects its expectation “the city will maintain stable financial performance, gradually rebuilding reserves after a large draw on fund balance in 2020 that resulted from pandemic…
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Puerto Rico board rejects legislative effort to renegotiate PREPA deal
The Puerto Rico Oversight Board on Friday rejected the possibility of renegotiating the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority debt deal with the local government and also filed an objection in the PREPA bankruptcy to bondholders’ motion to compel mediation. In a press conference following the board’s public meeting, Board President David Skeel said, “There are…